Headquarters Beercade Nashville Outfitted With Martin Audio

The popular new bar/restaurant Headquarters Beercade Nashville is equipped with a Martin Audio CDD speaker system to provide exceptional clarity and coverage.

Aug 16, 2017

Ayre Productions of Chicago, IL recently installed a full complement of Martin Audio CDD speakers in the popular new nightspot, Headquarters Beercade Nashville.

Located in downtown Nashville right off Broadway and Second Avenue, the bar/restaurant serves custom and craft beers, cocktails, light fare and has 32 vintage arcade games––including Ms. Pacman, Mortal Kombat, The Simpsons––and 10 pinball machines, all of which are free for customers.

Asked about the venue, Ayre’s John Wagner explains, “The place has a vintage, quirky vibe with red graffiti and thousands of cassettes hanging from the wall. It showcases retro-style music like alternative, new wave, rock and roll, etc., but no country. It attracts a widespread group including young kids for the arcades and older folks who grew up playing the games.

“This was a ground-up build and we got the project from our clients, Brian Galati and Chireal Jordan, to provide audio and video because we had already worked on their venue, Headquarters Beercade in Chicago. They also wanted a dedicated sound system for the performance space so the venue could host bands like most every place in downtown Nashville.”

The performance area at the end of the large main room includes a DJ booth which can be removed and replaced with a portable stage equipped with one Martin Audio CDD15 and two CSX212 subs flown per side, pointed toward the entrance. Complementing that setup are four CDD12’s hung from the ceiling at the sides and back of the room firing into the center.

According to John, “there’s a mezzanine over the entry area with a separate bar and we mounted three CDD8’s under that for maximum coverage when you enter the club. In the mezzanine itself, we have two CDD12’s wall-mounted on the higher level and two CDD6’s lower down, all firing toward the bar, with one CSX212 sub on the floor. We also mounted a CDD10-WR outside the club facing the street because they have no noise limits in downtown Nashville.

“Amplification includes Lab Gruppen D80:4L and IPD 2400 amps with Lake processing, and everything is wired in true stereo throughout the building so it really sounds amazing wherever you’re standing!”

For video, the club is equipped with two 55”, two 65” and two 70” Samsung televisions along with a 200” projection screen and Vivitek projector.

In terms of reaction to Martin Audio CDD from his clients, John recounts, “One of the owners had owned a club in Chicago and favored another brand so he had to be convinced. I played a live version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ through the CDDs and his jaw literally dropped. Now he and the other owner are 100% believers and we’re going to be using Martin Audio for the new Chicago location and changing things out in their original location!”

Summing up, John concludes, “Several of the staff members from Chicago who’ve moved down to run the Nashville location told me they can actually stand in the middle of a very crowded room—because they’re killing it down there––filled with people, video games and music playing and can walk out without their ears hurting, which is a huge plus.”